Circular knitting machine



Feb. 23, 1932. c. CHRISTENSEN 1,846,793

0 IRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 9, 1929 a Sheets-Sfiaet 1 Feb. 23, 1932. r P. c. CHRISTENSEN 1,846,793

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 9, 1929 a sheets-sheer 2 Fia? ' P. c. CHRISTENSEN Feb. 23, 1932.

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 9, 1929 a Sheets-Sheet 3 HRISTENSEM PER CHR/sr/A/v C ATTV.

Fb. 23, 1932. P. c. CHRISTENSEN 6,

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE I Filed Oct. 9, 1929 a Sheets-Sheet 4 Feb. 23, 1932. P..C. CHRISTENSEN CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE 8 Sheets- Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 9, 1929 Y Feb. 23, 1932. P. c. cccc STENSEN 15 KNITTING MACHINE Oct. 9, 1929 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 I gm CIRCULAR Filed FeB. 23, 1932. P. c. CHRISTENSEN I CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 9, 1929 8 Sheets-Sheet. 8

Patented Feb. 23, 1932 unit's STATES"? PER CHRISTIAN CHRISTENSEN, OF LEICESTER, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO G; .ST'IBBESt CO.

LIMITED, 015 LEICESTER, ENGLAND, A BRITISI-I- COlllIIlEaf-IlV-Y V CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Application filed October 9,"1929,'.S'eria1l1\To. 398,496; and in Great Britain 0ct0ber'19, 1928:

This invention relates to circular knitting machines and concerns those of the kind wherein provision is madefor varying the number of loops-in the knitted courses dur-' ingknitting of the tube of fabric so that the diameter of the latter is varied;

Mainly the invention has reference to machines for making seamless hosiery and its principal-object is toproduce an improved circular machine for making afull-fashioned hose, but it is to be' understood that the invention is not limited to'such application as-itmay be embodied in acircularmachine for producingother goods or fabric wherein fashioningor diameter variation is a desideratum. V

For the purpose of the'present description however, and for the sake of convenience,

the invention will be considered as ap lied to a-circular knitting machineforma ring seamless, fashioned, plain stockings and.

like goods.

Toenabl'e the invention to be clearly and readily understood examples thereofwill be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying. drawings as applied to a circular seamless plain hose knitting machine for fashioning the legfportion of the knitted article.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an end elevation of-a circular knitting machine furnished with fashioning means according to the invention;

Figure 2 isa front elevation of the mag chine, and V Figure 3 is a sectional III III o'fFigure 2. Figure is a sectionalplan of a needle cylinder constructed in accordance with the invention.

plan taken on line Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view showing a convenient layout of needles in said cyl inder.

Figure 6 shows difierent'kinds of'needles employed in accordance with the invention. Figure 7 shows difierent kinds of jacks employed in association with certain of the needles Figure-8 is a. sectional detail showing one of the said jacks acting on a fashioning needle;

Figure 9" is a sectional detail showing another of said jacks op''e-ratin, 3;: on. anordinary needle having a stepped butt for. a purpose hereinafter described.

Figure-IO'is' a developed view of alj'ack and needle operating cam system;

Figure 16' shows the raising. cam engage'd i by: p're-selected' jacks for bringing. the cor; responding fashioning needles into action,

Figure. 17 I is a sectional plan of" a needle cylinder wherein the needle: equally spaced throughout.

Figure 18 is adiagrammatic viewshowing a convenient. layout: of needles in a cylinder wherein the groovesare shown inFigure 17, and

Figure 19 shows an alternative-layout inla similar cylinder.

According to this inventiontliereis provided a circular'knitting machine of 't'hein' dependent needle typeforthe"production-of fabric fashioned'by the introductionof'addi tionalloops wherein for the'purpose of-lrnit ting the additionalloopsordinary needles are interspersed with fashioningn'eedles in" the same needle bed, said fashioning needles beingbro'ught into operation selectively, and means are furnished whereby the ordinary needles adjacent to the fashioning. needles are caused'to even up their loops-with the loops formed bytheotherneedles of theme chineboth priorto and during-the fashiom ing operation. i

Figure 111 shows a'few oft-he needles and 1 cks as they appear prior-to starting the equally spaced as I The needles are slidable in the needle cylin- 1 idle.

der and the fashioning needles are normally Since the ordinary needles and the fashioning needles, are arranged in the same needle bed, the fashioning needles, when in action, work side by side with the ordinary needles, and when the number of needles in action is increased, the gauge of the machine and consequently of the fabric at that part of the needle circle where the needles aresupplemented will be altered. Therefore to ensure the resultant fabric, although increased in diameter, being uniform as regards loop formation and appearance there is employed-in conjunction with the fashionformation as will be hereinafter described.

In carrying out the invention in a circular knitting machine, such as a seamless hose machine, where the knitted tube is to be fashioned on one side, e. g. at the calf in a stocking, I provide-a needle cylinder having sections of difierent gauges, i. e. as shown in Figure ,4, the coarse gauge section containing ordinary needles and the fine gauge section or sections containing both ordinary and fashioning needles.

In making a fashioned tube on such machine, knitting proceeds on the ordinary needles while the fashioning needles remain idle and "empty- Vvhen fashioning is to be effected the fashioning needles are brought into action one, two or more at a time and thus form additional loops to. increase the size of the tubular fabric.

' It is to be understood that I may, instead of employing a needle cylinder having sections of different gauges, use one wherein the needle grooves are equally spaced as shown in Figure 17, in which case the fashioning needles may be distributed either in one section of the cylinder or in different sections.

When the needle cylinder is cut to different gauges, the finer one contains the fashioning needlesand is of such gauge compared with that of the other section that, when the ordinary needles in saidfiner gauge'section are working without thefashioning needles, said ordinary needles will be of coarser gauge than the other section. By the term gauge herein employed it is to be understood that I mean the pitch or spacing ofthe needles in the needle circle and not the thickness of the needles themselves. It will also be understood that the needles herein referred to as fordinary needles are those which areknitting all the, time whereas the fashioning needles are introduced, when required to supplement the knitting complement.

- In the example already referred to, where the needle cylinder has sections of different gauges, .I preferably so actuate the needles that, during the knitting of the small or nonfashioned portion of the tube, the ordinary needles in the fine gauge section draw smaller mg means, an arrangement to vary the loopor tighter loops than the ordinary needles in the coarse gauge section. The effect of this is that since, as before mentioned, the ordinary needles in the fine gauge section are of coarser pitch'than those in the coarse gauge section, the loop formation and appearance of the knitted tube is made uniform all round. I also preferably arrange that when fashioning needles are brought into action these and the adjacent ordinary needles are caused to make longer or slacker loops than those made bythe ordinary needles in the coarse gauge section. v

The fabric produced is therefore of uniform gauge throughout.

Referring to the drawings, the invention is illustrated as applied to a machine of the well known Banner type forming the subject ofthe patent to Joshua D. Hemphill No. 933,443, although, as will be readily understood, the invention is not limited to application to'machines of this type. In the Banner machine the needle cylinder 1 rotates and the cam carrier 2 remains stationary. In general form the machine includes arotary needle cylinder 1 arranged on a bed 3 (Figs. 1 and 2) extending horizontally from a frame 4 and as usual in a machine of this type the cylinder rotates during the formation of the leg of a stocking and reciprocates during the formation of the heel and toe.

, The machine is also equipped with yarn feeding devices indicated generally at 5 by means of which one or more yarns can be supplied to the needles according to requirements. These yarn feeding devices are controlled from a pattern cylinder 6 onthe pattern shaft 7 by intermediate connections substantially the same as those described in the specification of Patent No. 933,453. The machine is furnished with a main driving shaft 8 (Fig.2) having thereon the usual pulleys 9 and a pinion 10 meshing with a large gear 11 known as the 104: gear, from which is also driven in the usual manner the quadrant '12 through the medium of which the reciprocatory motion is imparted to'the cylinder during theknitting of the heel and toe. The means for rotating and reciprocating the cylinder 1 and operating the pattern shaft 7 f are substantially the same as those described in the specification aforesaid and therefore do not require further description herein. The machine is also provided with the usual narrowing and widening pickers 13,. 13a

shown in Fig. 2.-v

The machine is intended to commence knitting the article at the toe and from the-ankle to fashion the leg by gradually increasing the diameter of the knitted tube by increasing the number of loops in the back half.

Referring to Figures 4: and 5, according to one construction the needle cylinder 1 is formed with a section 14 of coarse pitch needle grooves 1a extending approximatelyifl the section .17 of-coarse gauge. In the coarse gauge section 14 ordinaryneedles 18 and2t (Figure 6) areused; in the coarse gauge sec tion 17 ordinary needles 24 are used; in the fine gauge or fashioning sections 15 and 16, ordinary needles 19 alternate with fashioning needles 20. A conveni nt arrangement for the combined sections 15, 16 and 17 which may be termed the fashioning section,.is a few ordinary needles in the centre, say about ten, and then alternate fashioning and ordinary needles on each side, as indicated in Figure 5.

Now with a'needle cylinder formed and equipped as just described fashioning is brought about by bringing the fashioning needles 20 into action selectively on opposite sides of-the centre. For instance, fashioning may be commenced by bringing into action first the two fashioning needles on opposite sides ofthe central group of ordinary needles, and'then, after a desired number of courses havebeen knitted, the next two fashioning needles can be brought into action and so on until all the fashioning needles are in action and the knitting complement has been thereby increased in number.

7 I may employ any suitable means for bringing the fashioning needles into action.

An appropriate and convenient arrangement comprises a series of'jacks operated by cams, and this system is advantageous not only because it enables the fashioning needles to be brought into action selectively but alsov because it enables the stitch forming action of the associated ordinaryneedles in the fashioning section to be varied as will be more fully described presently.

For my particular purpose I may use acks similar to those described in British specification No. 210,046. In-the present specific example, a jack 21 is disposedunder each fashioningneedle and a further jaok'22 under the ordinary needle or needles associated with it in the fashioning section. That is to say, a jack is disposed under each of the needles in the sections 15 and 16. These jacks are arranged in pairs, and the jacks 22 are constructed and arranged so that when one is raised, as by a cam, it will engage with and raise the next adjacent pair of jacks to a less height, and the jack 22 in this pair, when raised subsequently, will lift the next pair, and so on. Thus each pair of jacks, when raised, selects the next pair preparatory to raising and so on throughoutthe series.

By the employmentof these jacks in conjunction with suitable cams the fashioning needles can be selectively brought into action,

and, to-enable the fashioning to be carried outfrom the centre, the jacks are made right and left hand, as indicated in Figure 1150 that, ateach selection, one or more needles on opposite sides of the centre are brought up for use. 7

New for the purpose of evening up rangement is adopted. The jacks 21 under the fashioning needles function to raise their needles from an idle track w to aknitting fashioning needles are raised into action by their jacks, which latter may thereby select the jacks of the adjacent ordinary. needles,

and in the next revolution the saids'elected.

jacksmay then rise to causethe said ordinary needles to draw longer loops, the raising of these jacks selecting thejacks of the next adjacent fashioning needles preparatory to these being brought into action-after a desired number of courses have been knitted.

1 It is preferred however to .arrange'for the control'of-each associated ordinary needle totake place when the'fashioning needlecomes into action, instead of during the next revolution as just'described. That is to say,when each fashioning needle draws its first loop the adjacent ordinary needle will draw a longer loop. This may be achieved by coupling the jacks of the fashioning needle and adjacent ordinary needle so that they operate together, as will be more fully described later herein. I

To enable the evening up of the fabricto be obtained in the manner aforesaid, the

knitting butts 20a of the fashioning needles 20 are made higher than the knitting butts 18a of the ordinary needles in the coarse gauge section, and those ordinary needleswhich are associated with fashioning needles are furnished with butts 19a, 19b, of two heights, one higher and one lower than the knitting butts 18a on the other ordinary needles. The high butts 20a on the fashioning needles ensure an increased action ofsaid needles under the stitch. cam 23 (Figure 10) than that .impartedto the ordinary needles in the coarse section and consequently said fashioning needles draw the requisite longer loops for evening up the fabric. When the ordinary needles 19 are working alone, i. e. without the associated fashioning needles, the

cam 23 engages with the low level butt 19b the fabric as it is fashioned, the following are.

stitch cam 23.

The full complement of ordinary needles is divided into long and short butt groups in the usual maner for making the heel and toe. That is to say, round one half of the needle circle instep needles 18 having long butts 18a are provided, while round the other or heel and toe half, which half, of course, includes the fashioning needles, heel and toe needles 24 having shorter butts 2464 are provided, except in the sections and 16 where the needles 19 and 20 are arrangedalternately as already described. In the specific example herein described four kinds of needles are provided viz. long butt ordinary needles 18, short butt ordinary needles 24, both these having butts of normal height, fashioning needles 20 with short high level butts 20a and ordinary needles 19 with high and low level butts 19a, 195.

The jacks 21 and 22 have butts 21a and 22a of uniform length, but those jacks 25 occupying the centralposition, i. e. those which are to be first operated, have long butts 25a (see also Figure 11) It will be understood that the aforesaid coarse gauge section 14 includes ordinary needles, the majority of which have long butts and the remainder short butts, as illustrated in Figure 5.

For selecting and raising the jacks there is provided a movable cam 26 which is moved by pattern, controlled means to raise the long buttjacks 25 to a pre-selected position as shownv in Figure 12. For this purpose the cam 26 is mountedon a slide 27 which works in a bracket 28 attached to the machine bed 3, and is engaged by a lever 29 fulcrumed at 30 on the post 31. The lever 29 is connected by a link 32 with a lever 33 pivoted on a pin 34 fixed in the machine frame 4, said lever being acted upon at the time required by a cam 35 on a drum 36 on the pattern shaft 7 When the cam 35 engages the lever 33 the cam 26 is put into action and when the cam 35'releases the lever 33 a spring 37 operates to withdraw the cam 26. Two other cams 38, 39 are provided, the cam 38beingfixed and the cam 39 movable into and out of action by pattern-controlled means. The first of these cams, i. e. the fixed one 38, is a raising cam which raises the pre-selected jacks 25 to full height to bring the adjacent jacks 21 and 22 morepins 53 according to requirements.

into action to control the knitting function of the corresponding needles as already de scribed. It should be understood that the two jacks 25 are respectively arranged under the outside needles of the group in section 17 which needles are always at the higher level so as to knit at every revolution. Thus the raising of these jacks 25 has no influence upon their corresponding needles, but is employed solely for commencing the fashioning operation. Each of the jacks 25 is furnished with a foot 25?) which, when the jacks are raised by the cam 38, is adapted to engage the butts 21a and 22a of the jacks 21 and 22 (see Figure 13) to raise the latter for the purpose mentioned. The second cam 39 is a depressing cam and its function is to depressthose jacks which have been preselected by the raising of the previous jacks. It will be remembered that each pair of acks 21 and 22,

when raised pre-selects the next adjacent pair of jacks, for which purpose each jack'22 is furnished with a foot 226 for engagement with the butts on the next pair'of jacks, and if it is not desired that such pie-selected jacks should be raised, then they are depressed by the depressor cam' 39. By moving the depressor cam 39 to its inactive position in which it is represented in Figure 15, the preselected jacks, on the next revolution, come round in a position to be raised by the raising cam 38 as shown in Figure 16. Thus by moving the depressor cam into and out of action by pattern controlled means the fashioning needles can be brought into action at desired intervals. While the said cam is in action no further selection of the jacks takes place, consequently any desired number of courses can be knitted between the successive fashioning needles coming into action. If

the depressor cam is held out of action there is a selection and raising of the acks at eac revolution.

For operating the cam 39 the latter is slid-' ably mounted in a block 40 on the machine 7 frame 4. The ratchet wheel has a series of holes 52 therein for the reception of one or The slide 49 has a tooth 54 thereon for engagement by the one or more pins in the ratchet Wheel whereby the slide is raised momentarily to withdraw the cam 39. The ratchet wheel is racked round during the fashioning operation by a pawl 55 mounted eccentrically on a shaft 56 rotatable in the machine frame and driven by means of a pinion 57 from the aforesaid gear 11. The pawl 55 is controlled by a blufi 58 on. a slide 59 connected'byalink 60 fulcrumed on the pin 34 and held in engagement with a cam 67 on the drum 36 bya spring 68. This cam by causing the lever 63 .to engage the'lever 42, holds the cam 39 out .ofaction and also maintains the bluff 58 in contact with thepawl so that the latter reciprocates idly while the machine is knitting ordinarily. At the commencement of the fashioning operation a gap in the cam 67 is .intoaction and to release the pawl 55, i. e. by

moving the blufi" 58 so that the pawl commences to operate the ratchet wheel. Vi hen .during the rotation of saidwheel a pin there- :in engages the tooth 54 on the sllde 49 the latter, as aforesaid, is operated momentarily to withdraw the cam 39 so that there is a se- .lect1on of ]lCkS as pre 'iously described. T he .rate of rotation oi? the ratchet wheel in relation tothe needle. cylinder and the number of pins therein determines the number of courses between the successive tashioning needles coming into operation.

At the end of the fashioning operation the cam 6'? operates'the lever 66 to withdraw the cam 39 andrender .the pawl 55 inoperative.

A further cam 691nay be inserted between the cams 38 and 39, which may be termed apositioning or levelling cam, its function being to position the pre-selected jacks 21 and 22 (as represented in Figuralto ensure that their butts 2141,.22a engage the depressing cam, when the latter: is in action, or-to'ensure that said butts are brought round in the correct position for engagement by the raising "cam 38 when the depressing cam is out of action. A small projection 2265 is provided on each of the jacks 22 which engages the butt .2155 on its associated fashioning needle .2110 bring the latter down when it is itself depressed.

jack

The stitch cam 23, clearing cam 70, centre cam 71 and guard cam 72 for the needles are appropriately arranged to permit the operations of the acks upon said needl s takin J J} A u n p a place. Instead or raising and selecting the fflSlllOnlllg needles one at a. time I may selectively raise two or more at a time.

It is to be understood that the fashioning of the tubular fabric'is effected during cir -cular. knitting by widening as the result of increasing the number of needles in action.

.Normally the fashioning needles 20 travel along an idle track m as indicated in Figure .10, while the ordinary needles are raised to .a'higher track to knit by a cam 73, the :fashioning needles being. raised to this higher traclqwhen required, bythe cam 38 as alreadydescribed; 'It will be understood that 'after'sall of the fashioning needles have been brought into operation, e. for'shaping the leg of the article, they continue to knit along with the ordinary needles and the stepped rbut-t needles continue toeven up their loops with the loops formedby the other needles for the required number of courses, e. g. to form the remainder of the leg of the article.

Prior to commencing another article the fa'shvioning needles press oil their loops and are returned to the non-knitting track. This return is brought about by an appropriate cam system. The butts 20a, of the fashioning needles are shorter than the butts 24a of the short butt ordinary needles Q land afterall the needles have been raised, and'when itis required to take out the fashioning needles, a cam His put into action which moves all the raised ordinary needles 18, 19 and 24 down, but misses the short butts of the fash ioning needles so that the fashioning needles "pass the feeding pointin a raised position.

To this end the cam 74 is'attached to a slide 75 mounted in a block76 secured on the cam carrier 2. The slide is connected b-ya lever 77 pivoted on a pin 78 inthe block 76. and connected by a link 79 with a lever 80 piv-. oted on the pin '34 and acted upon by a cam 81 on the drum 36 whereby the cam is put into action when required against the action of a spring 82. When the cam 81 moves from under the adjacent end of the lever the spring withdraws the cam 74. Just priorv to the fashioning needles reaching the-feeding point, the feeder 83 is moved out of action so that said needles take no yarnbut press off and pass to the lower or idle track. The feeder is put out of action by the usual means comprising lever '83, link 84, and lever 85 acted upon by acam 86 on the existing drum 6. On the next revolution the ordinary needles are again raised to knit by the cam 73.

The cam 73 is also movably arranged so that it can be put into aposition'toengage all the needle butts when the fashioning needles are required to press off and thus ensure that all of the fashioning. needles rise above the cam 7 O,'-said cam being withdrawn slightly so that it misses the butts of the fashioning needles after the cam 74 has acted thereon. Accordingly the cam 73 is formed on a slide 87 having connected to it a lever 88 pivoted on the pin 7 8 and connected by a link 89 with a lever 90 pivoted on the-pin 34. The lever 90 is acted upon when required by a cam 91- on the drum 36 wherebythe cam 7 3 is moved into the innermost position. The

lever 90 is held in contact withthe drum of action at the appropriate time byv a patbe connected by a pin 95 witha lever 96 on a spindle 97 rotatable in a bracket 98 on the machine bed. .The spindle has another lever 99 thereon connected by a link 100 and lever 101 with a slide 102 in a block 103 on the machine bed, the lever 101 being fulcrumed at 104 on the block. The slide 102 is connected to another slide controlled by a spring 105 and furnished with a block 106 for engagement with a cam 107 on the drum 36 whereby the cam 93 is held withdrawn until a gap 108 comes opposite the end of the lever whereupon the cam 94 is moved into action. A cam 109 may be provided to hold the needles 10 down when the jacks 22 enter the back thereof, as shown in Figure 9, for the purpose already mentioned, said cam being put into action and withdrawn simultaneously with the insertion and withdrawal of the cam 26. For this purpose the cam 109 is formed on a slide 110 connected by a lever 111 pivoted onthe pin 78 and a link 112 with the lever 33.

When, as may be the case, fashioning needles are disposed or associated with ordinary Figure 17 shows a cylinder 1?) having uniformly spaced needle grooves 10 and Figure 18 illustrates diagrammatically a convenient distribution of the ordinary and fashioning needles around the cylinder. For example there is provided a group 112 of long butt or instep'needles 18 and a group 113 of Cal short butt needles comprising ordinary needles 24 at opposite ends of the group 112 and a number of ordinary stepped butt needles 19c and fashioning needles 202) i. e. needles similar to the needles 19 and 20 shown in Figure 6, arranged alternately. In this arrangement the number of ordinary short butt needles in the group 11 3 is equal to the number of longbutt needles in the group 112 so that when the fashioning needles are idle there are as many heel and toe needles in operation as there are instep needles. Owing to the number of fashioning needles employed however, the ordinary short butt needles occupy more than half of the circumference of the needle cylinder.

When the fashioning needles are idle the butts thereof follow the track- :0 while the butts of the ordinary needles follow the track Figure 10, as already described herein.

Jacks 21, 22 and 25 (Figure 7) are associated with the fashioning and stepped butt needles and'controlled as and for the purposes previously described herein with reference to Figures 10 to 13. However since'the needle grooves are equally spaced the stepped butt ordinary needles during the fashioning operation, and for the required number of courses thereafter. The fashioning needles are also adapted to draw loops equal in length to those drawn by the other needles-when put into action. I

The long butt jacks 25 (Figure 7 whereby the fashioning operation is initiated may be arranged side by side centrally in the group of jacks.

Alternatively as represented in Figure 19, there may be two groups 114, 115 of fashioning and stepped butt needles arranged alternately, said groups being separated by a small group 116 of ordinary needles 24, as in the arrangement shown in Figure 5, in which case the jacks 25 would be correspondingly separated, e. g. as shown in Figure 11.

Further either the number of ordinary short butt needles 24 or the number of fashioning needles and stepped butt needles would be correspondingly reduced so as to keep the number of ordinary short butt needles the same as the number of ordinary long butt needles 18.

I may, if desirable or necessary, provide suitable means for adjusting the sinkers or equivalent instruments to facilitate evening ilup the fabric, i. e. obtaining uniformity of What I claim then is:

' 1. Acircular knitting machine for the production of fabric fashioned by the introduction of additional loops which includes a needle cylinder, a stitch cam, a series of inde pendent needles in said cylinder comprising ordinary needles interspersed with fashioning needles, the latter being normally inoperative and the ordinary needles adjacent to the fashioning needles being furnished with stepped butts, means for bringing the fashioning needles into action selectively, and

means for controlling the ordinary needles adjacent to the fashioning needles so that the stitch cam engages the low portions of the stepped butts prior to the fashioning operation and the higher portions during said operation,,for the purpose set forth;

2. A circular knitting machine for the production of fabric fashioned by'the introduction of additional loops including a needle cylinder, a series of independent needles comprising ordinary needles interspersed with fashioning needles, the latter being normally inoperative, a series of 1nterengagingjacks associated with the fashioning needles, means for operating jacks corresponding with the fashioning needles to putthe said needles into action, certain jacks being operable inltially to pro-select co-adjacent acks for operation by said means, which operation causes pre-selection of the nextadjacent jacks for the same purpose,and so on throughout the series of jacks, and means whereby the ordinary needles adjacent to'the fashioning nee? dles are caused to even up their loops with the loops formed by the other needles both prior to and during the fashioning operation.

3. A circular knitting machine for the production of fabric fashioned by the introduction of additional loops, which includes a needle cylinder, a series of independent needles comprising ordinary needles interspersed with fashioning needles, the latter being normally inoperative, a series of inter engaging jacks associated with the fashioning needles, 1 fixed cam for operatingjaclrs corresponding with fashioning needles to put said needles into action, certain jacks being operable initially for actuation by said fixed cam to pre-select co-adjacent jacks for engagement with said cam whereby pro-selection of the next adjacent jacks for the same purpose is effected and so on throughout the series of jacks, an automatically controlledcam for effecting said initial operation, and means for causing the ordinary needles adjacent to the fashioning needles to even up their loops with the loops formed by the other needles both prior to and during the fashioning operation. I

4. A-circular knitting ma chine'for the production of fabricrfashioned by the introduction of additional loops which includes a needle cylinder, a ser es ofindependentsaid initial operat on. means for determining the engagement of the pro-selected fashioning jacks with the fashioning cam, and con sequently the intervals at which the fashioning. needles are put into act on and means whereby the ordinary needles. adjacent to the fashioning needles are caused to even up their loops with the loops formed by the other needles both prior to and during the fashioning operation.

5. A circular kn ttingmachine for the production of fabric fashioned by the introduction of additional loops, which includes a:

needle cylinder, a stitch cam, a series'of inclependent needles in said cylinder comprising ordinary needles interspersed with fashioning needles, the latter beingnormally inoperative and thelordinary needles'adjacent to the fashioning needles being furnished with stepped butts, jacks associated with the fashioning needles, means operative upon the jacks for bringing the fashioningneedles into operation selectively and means for con trolling the ordinary needles adjacent to the fashioning needles so that the stitch cam engages the lower portions of the stepped butts prior to the fashioning operation and the higher portions during saidoperation' for the purpose set forth. v

6. A circular knitting machine for the pro,-

duction of fashioned fabric by the introduce" tion of additional loops; which includesfa; needle cylinder, a stitch cam, a serles of in dependent needles in said cyllnder compr1sing ordinary needles interspersed with fashioning needles, the latter being normally in-- operative and the ordinary needlesad acent thereto being furnished with stepped butts, a series of interengaging acks assoclated with the fashioning needles, means for oper-' ating jacks correspondmg wlth fashionmgneedles to put said needles into action, certain jacks being operable initially to preselect co-adjacent jacks for operation by said means, which operation causes pro-selection of the next adjacent jacks for the same pur-- pose, and so on throughout the series, the means for controlling the ordinary needles adjacent to the fashioning needles so that the stitch cam engages the low portions of the stepped butts prior to the fashioning operation and the higher portions during said operation for the purpose set-forth.

'7". A circular knitting machine for pro ducing fabric fashioned by the introduction of additional loops which includes a needle.

cy inder, a stitch cam, a series of independent needles in said cylinder comprising ordinary needles interspersed with-fashioning needles, the latter being normally inoperative, and the adjacent ordinary needles being fur.- nished with stepped butts, a series-of interengaging jacks associated with the fashioning, needles a fixed cam for operating the fashioning jacks to put the fashioning needles into action, certain jacks being operable initi ally for actuationby said fixed cam to preselect co-adjacent fashioning jacks for op-- eration by the fixed cam whereby pre-selection of the nest adjacent jacks for the same purpose is effected, and so on throughout the series, an automaticallycontrolled cam for effect ng said initial operation and means for controlling the ordinary needles adjacent to the fashioning needles'so that the stitch cam engages the low portions of the stepped butts prior to the fashioning operation and the higher portions during the said operation, for the purpose set forth.

8 A circular knitting machine for producing fabric fashioned by the introduction of additional loops, which includes a needle cylinder, a stitch cam, a series of independent needles in said cylinder comprising ordinary needles interspersed with fashioning needles, the latter being-normally inoperative, and the adjacent fashioning needles being furnished with stepped butts, a series of interengaging jacks associated with the fashioning needles, a fixed cam for operating the fashioning jacks to put the fashioning needles into action, certain jacks being operable initially for actuation by said fixed cam to pr-e-select co-adjacent jacks for operation by the fixed cam whereby pre-selection of the next adj acentjacks for the same purpose is eifected,'and so on throughout the series, an automatically controlled cam for efiecting said'initial operation, means for determining the engagement of the pro-selected fashioning jacks with the fixed cam and consequently the intervals at which the fashioning needles are put into action, and means for controlling the ordinary needles adjacent to the fashioning needles so that the stitch cam engages'the low portions of said butts prior to the fashioning operation and the higher portions during said operation.

9. A circular knittingmachine for producing fabric fashioned by the introduction of additional loops which includes a needle cyl inder, a stitch cam,aseries of independent needles in said cylinder comprising ordinary needles interspersed with fashioning needles, the latter being normally inoperative, and the adjacent ordinary needles being furnished with stepped butts, the lower portions of which are normally engaged by the stitch cam, jacks associated the fashioning needles, means operative upon the jacks for bringing the fashioning needles into action selectively and jacks associated with the ordinary needles adjacent to the fashioning needles and operable in conjunction with the other jacks to control said ordinary needles so that during the fashioning action the stitch cam engages the 'higher portions of the stepped butts for the purpose set forth.

10. A circular knitting machine for producing fabric fashioned by the introduction of additional loops, including a needle cylinder, a series of independent needles in said cylinder comprising ordinary needles having ordinary butts, ordinary needles having stepped butts and fashioning needles having short butts and normally idle and means for bringing the fashioning needles into operation selectively, and means for controlling the stepped butt needles so as to cause same to even up their loops with the loops formed by the other operative needles both prior to and during the fashioning operation and for the required number of courses thereafter.

11. A circular knltting machine for producing fabric fashioned by the introduction of additional loops, including a needle cylinder, a series of independent needles in said cylinder comprising a group made up wholly of ordinary needles having ordinary butts and a group containing both ordinary needles having stepped butts and fashioning needles having short butts and normally inoperative, means for bringing the fashioning needles into action selectively and means for controlling the stepped butt needles so as to cause same to even up their loops with the loops formed by the other operative needles both prior to and during the fashioning action and for therequired number of courses thereafter.

12. A circular knitting machine'for producing fabric fashioned by the addition of loops, including a needle cylinder, a series of independent needles comprising a group of ordinary needles having ordinary butts and groups containing ordinary needles furnished with stepped butts and fashioning needles having short butts and normally idle, said groups being separated by a further group of ordinary needles having ordinary butts, means for rendering the fashioning needles operative selectively and means for controlling the stepped butt needles so as to cause same to even up their loops with those formed by the other operative needles both prior to and during the fashioning operation, and for the required number of courses thereafter. I v

13. A circular knitting machine for producing fabric fashioned by the introduction of additional loops, including a needle cylinder, a series of independent needles therein comprising a group of ordinary needles having ordinary butts and a. group containing ordinary needles with stepped butts arranged alternately with fashioning needles having short butts and normally idle, means for bringing the fashioning needles into action selectively and means for controlling the stepped butt needles so as to cause same to even up their loops with the loops formed by the other operative needles both prior to and during the fashioning operation, and for the required number of courses thereafter.

1 4. A circular knitting machine for producing fabric fashioned by the addition of loops, including a needle cylinder, a series of independent needles in said cylinder comprising a group of ordinary needles having ordinary butts and groups containing ordinary needles having stepped butts arranged alternately with fashioning needles having short butts and normally idle, said groups being separated by a further group of ordinary needles with ordinary butts, means for bringing the fashioning needles into operation selectively and means for controlling the operation of the stepped butt needles so as to cause same to even up their loops with the loops formed by the other operative needles both prior to and during the fashioning operation, and for the required number of courses thereafter. j v I 15. A circular knitting machine for producing fabric fashioned by the introduction of additional loops, including a needle cylinder, a series of independent needles in said cylinder comprising ordinary needles with ordinary butts, fashioning needles having short butts and'normally idle andordinary needles having stepped butts and adapted to draw shorter loops than the other'ordinary needles'prior to the fashioning needles coming into action and to 'draw'loops of equal length to those drawn by the other needles when the fashioning needles come into'action means for bringing the fashioningnee dles into action'selectively' and means for controlling the stepped butt needles.

16. A circular lmitting machine for producing fabric fashioned by the introduction of additional loops, including a needle cylinder, a series of independent needles in said cylinder comprising ordinary needles having ordinary butts, fashioningneedles normally idle andhaving short high level butts Whereby, when in action, said needles are caused to draw loops longer than those drawn by the said ordinary needles, ordinary needles having stepped butts and adapted to draw loops machine for producing hose fashioned by the introductionpf additional loops, including a needlecylinder, a series of independent needles comprising agroupof instep needles, a group of heel and toe needles interspersed with fashioning needles normally idle and including ordinary needles with stepped butts, means for bringing the fashioning needles into action selectively and means for causing the stepped butt needles to even u their loops with the loops formed by the other operative needles both prior to and during the fashioning operation and for the required number of courses thereafter;

In testimony whereof I have signed my name, to this specification.

PER CHRISTIAN CHRISTENSEN.

shorter than those drawn by the other ordi- I naryneedles prior to the fashioning operation and to draw loops longer than those drawn by the remaining ordinary needles when the fashioning needles come into ac:

tion, said fashioning needles and stepped butt needles being located in a section of the needle cylinder which is of finer gauge than that of the section in which the remaining needles are located, means for bringing the fashioning needles into action selectively and I means for controlling the operation of the stepped butt needles. 2

17. A circular knitting machine for producing fabric fashioned by the introduction of additional loops, including a needle cylinder, a series of independent needles comprising ordinary needles, fashioning needles nor mally idle and ordinary needles having stepped butts, jacks associated with the fashioning needles, means operative upon the jacks for bringing the fashioning needles into operation selectively,yjacks associated with the steppedbutt needles and operable in conjunction with the other jacks to control said needles so as to cause same to even up their loops with the loops formed by the other operative needles both prior to and during the fashioning operation'and for the required numberof courses thereafter, means for causing the fashioningneedles to press off and means for'rendering the said fashioning needle jacks inoperative subsequent to the fashioning operation.

1 18.-A circular seamless hosiery knitting 

